Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes drawn as villain, underdog as trial begins
- Prosecutors say the fallen Silicon Valley star duped investors, customers and patients for years, even though she knew her start-up was nearly bankrupt
- Once hailed as a billionaire on paper, Holmes is now facing a sentence of up to 20 years if convicted
Prosecutors and defence lawyers sketched duelling portraits of fallen Silicon Valley star Elizabeth Holmes as her trial got under way on Wednesday, alternatively portraying her as a greedy villain who faked her way to the top and a passionate underdog whose spent years trying to shake up the health care industry.
The two sides are now expected to spend the next three months trying to sway a 12-person jury impaneled to hearing the evidence in a case airing allegations that Holmes used her start-up, Theranos, as a scheme to realise her dreams of becoming rich and as famous as one of her role models, late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
Once hailed as a billionaire on paper, Holmes is now facing a sentence of up to 20 years if convicted of the felony charges.
Holmes’ rise and fall has already been the subject of documentaries, books and podcasts, feeding the fervour that has built up around a trial that has been delayed twice since she was indicted nearly three years ago.
With roughly only 75 spots available for the media and general public to observe the proceedings, people began to line up outside the San Jose, California, courthouse before 5am on Wednesday.